THE BEST INSTANT POT MEATLOAF AND POTATOES

This really is The Best Instant Pot Meatloaf and Garlic Parmesan Potatoes. It’s an all-in-one meal and is so simple to make. I promise this isn’t an old school dry meatloaf recipe!

VIDEO INCLUDED BELOW

WHY ISN’T MY INSTANT POT PRESSURIZING?

More than likely it is one of (3) things. First, the lid may not be properly sealed. If that little sealing ring isn’t on the underside of the lid just right, the lid won’t seal. Second, it could be that you don’t have the pressure release valve set to “SEAL.” This has happened to me more than once. Lastly, it could be that you don’t have enough liquid in your pressure cooker. You need at least a cup of liquid. Also, be sure you aren’t overfilling your pot. Don’t go above the line provided on the insert of your Instant Pot.

TIPS FOR MAKING THE BEST MEATLOAF:

I tested this recipe using the Instant Pot brand pressure cooker. Some folks have suggested that the brands of pressure cookers they own are different from the Instant Pot and require more cooking time. So having said that, please use your judgement based on your knowledge of the electric pressure cooker that you own. You may need to add additional time to your cooking. This recipe can be made IN THE OVEN or IN THE CROCK POT.

HOW TO MAKE THE BEST INSTANT POT MEATLOAF:

Spray the bottom of a 6-quart electric pressure cooker (Instant Pot) with nonstick cooking spray or wipe it with a bit of butter. Add Little Potatoes into the bottom of the insert.Pour chicken broth on top of potatoes. Stir in minced garlic.Top Little Potatoes with pats of butter. Place rack insert on top of Little Potatoes.In a bowl, combine all the meatloaf ingredients. It really is best to use your (very clean!) hands to mix this up. Nature’s best tools!Place meatloaf mixture onto a sheet of nonstick aluminum foil. Shape the loaf into a rectangle and fold up the sides of the foil so it makes a little meatloaf boat (I think I’m gonna trademark that 😉 )

In a small bowl, combine meatloaf glaze ingredients and stir well.

Spread half of this glaze mixture onto the meatloaf (we’ll use the rest later). Place meatloaf on top of rack insert.

Place lid onto pressure cooker and lock it into place. Make sure the valve on the lid is turned to “Sealing”.

Set to manual high pressure for 30 minutes.

After it is done cooking, move the valve setting to “Venting” (this is called a quick release). Be VERY careful of the steam that will quickly come out. Allow all of the steam to fully release before unlocking lid.This next step is optional: Using oven mitts, carefully remove your ‘meatloaf boat’ and place it on a baking sheet. Set your oven to “High” broil. Spread the rest of the meatloaf glaze on top of the cooked meatloaf. Then slide meatloaf under the broiler for a couple of minutes just until it starts to bubble. Meanwhile, sprinkle Parmesan cheese and some dried parsley on potatoes that are in the Instant Pot and stir.

Remove baking sheet from the oven. Carefully place meatloaf on a serving plate using a large spatula. Then, gently remove the insert from the Instant Pot (using oven mitts) and carefully drain any excess broth from the bottom. Spread Little Potatoes around meatloaf.

Then serve! An entire dinner is done in about 40 minutes!

Enjoy!

THE BEST INSTANT POT MEATLOAF RECIPE

This really is The Best Instant Pot Meatloaf and Garlic Parmesan Potatoes. It’s an all-in-one meal cooked right in your electric pressure cooker!

Originally posted: December 2017 Updated & Republished: April 2019

THE BEST INSTANT POT MEATLOAF

This really is The Best Instant Pot Meatloaf and Garlic Parmesan Potatoes. It's an all-in-one meal cooked right in your electric pressure cooker!

For the meatloaf glaze:

Instructions

Spray the bottom of a 6-quart electric pressure cooker (Instant Pot) with nonstick cooking spray or wipe with a bit of butter. Add Little Potatoes into the bottom of the insert.

Pour chicken broth on top of potatoes. Stir in minced garlic.

Top Little Potatoes with pats of butter.

Place rack insert on top of Little Potatoes.

In a bowl, combine all the meatloaf ingredients. It really is best to use your (very clean!) hands to mix this up.

Place meatloaf mixture onto a sheet of nonstick aluminum foil. Shape the loaf into a rectangle and fold up the sides of the foil so it makes a little meatloaf boat.

In a small bowl, combine meatloaf glaze ingredients and stir well.

Spread half of this glaze mixture onto the meatloaf (we'll use the rest later). Place meatloaf on top of rack insert.

Place lid onto pressure cooker and lock it into place. Make sure the valve on the lid is turned to "Sealing".

Set to manual high pressure for 30 minutes. Note: If using a different pressure cooker, then you may need to increase the cooking time.

After it is done cooking, move the valve setting to "Venting" (this is called a quick release). Be VERY careful of the steam that will quickly come out.

Allow all of the steam to fully release before unlocking lid.

Optional: Using oven mitts, carefully remove your 'meatloaf boat' and place it on a baking sheet. Set your oven to "High" broil. Spread the rest of the meatloaf glaze on top of the cooked meatloaf. Then slide meatloaf under the broiler for a couple of minutes just until it starts to bubble.

Remove meatloaf from the oven. Carefully place meatloaf on a serving plate using a large spatula. Then, gently remove the insert from the Instant Pot (using oven mitts) and carefully drain any excess broth from the bottom. Spread Little Potatoes around meatloaf.

Then serve!

Video

Notes

Updated to add: I tested this recipe using the Instant Pot brand pressure cooker. Some folks have suggested that the brands of pressure cookers they own are different from the Instant Pot and require more cooking time. So having said that, please use your judgement based on your knowledge of the electric pressure cooker that you own. You may need to add additional time to your cooking.

You have Successfully Subscribed!

About Brandie @ The Country Cook

I’m a regular home cook, like most of you, doing my best to get a good meal on the table for my family. I like to say the recipes on here are recipes for the busy cook (you know who you are). You can still get a good meal on the table, with a few shortcuts to help you along the way. I hope you’ll find lots of recipes here that you’ll love and hopefully will become family favorites. Read more...

Reader Interactions

Comments

Delicious! We added baby carrots and used a small amount of the glaze in your recipe, but also made a brown gravy, as I was craving comfort food. My 10 year old even went back for seconds! And bonus – I blended the leftover potatoes and carrots with a little extra chicken broth to make a delicious soup!

This was seriously the BEST thing I’ve ever cooked in my IP. I’ve made a lot of complicated recipes, but this was so simple and absolutely delicious! This recipe will be added to my rotation for sure- only sub I made was to use ground turkey. Can’t wait to try some of your other things!

It keeps displaying “burn” on my screen. This is my first time to try cooking in the Instant Pot – I got it for Christmas I googled the “burn” warning, and it suggested adding more water to the bottom. I did that, but it still shows

This happened to me the first time I was showing my Mother-In-Law how to use it, then I realized, I NEVER RAN THE TEST RUN ON IT!!!😱😱😱 In the operators/Owners Manual, toward the middle (NOT exactly the best place for such a crucial piece of information), there is the vital directions for running the “Test Run” BEFORE attempting to cook in your IP.😆 I promise, it’ll work after that!!! I was stumped until I remembered that I ran a Test Run on mine back home.😉 Oh well!! I hope this helped!!!

Instead of doing a Quick Release, I want to have this cook while I am out, and use the “Keep Warm” feature (probably be 15-20 minutes). I think I need to decrease the cooking time. Does anyone have suggestions for how much time to decrease?

Question. I set my Instant Pot for 30 minutes on manual, my instant will say ON and then after a little bit, it will turn on the timer. Do I keep it on the timer for 30 minutes because it will be in there much longer? So I am a little confused how that works. Any tips will be helpful. Thanks.

Don’t worry about all those buttons. I’ve had my IP for almost a year and use it at least five times a week. The buttons I use are: yogurt (I make a batch of Greek yogurt every week), saute and pressure. The others don’t always give you exactly what you need for individual recipes. Oh, I use the steam button when I want to tackle that notorious issue of the plastic ring absorbing odors. Add a couple of cups of water and some cut up lemons to the pot, steam for ten minutes. The more you use your Instant Pot, the more you’re going to wonder how you managed without it.

Loved this recipe – will definitely make it again. The potatoes were delicious -really soaked up the flavors from the garlic and the broth. I didn’t have a problem with the cheese sticking or burning – I used freshly grated Parmesan from a block..

I’ve made meatloaf so many times… not once, not ever, no matter what ‘best recipe’ I used, it came out like a leather slab. I hated it. After the last failed, unpalatable attempt, I wrote it off completely and just decided to cut it out of my recipe repertoire. I am known and appreciated as a very good cook, but meatloaf was threatening my reputation.The only reason I gave it one more try with this recipe is because every meat I’ve cooked in my Instant Pot has been tender and delicious.

So thrilled to say that this time was no exception. The Instant Pot was a great cooking method, and the recipe was out of this world. And…I was surprised that such intense flavor came from such a simple glaze recipe. Honestly, the whole meal was absolutely fantastic. Thank you for restoring my faith in meatloaf!

Jill, your comment absolutely made my week!! This makes me so happy to hear! My father grew up hating meatloaf and remembering how dry or tasteless it was. I was determined to create a recipe to change people’s minds about bland meatloaf. So this recipe was really built out of lots of recipe testing and love for a classic. Thank you for taking the time to leave such a thoughtful comment. It means so much!!

Yummy! As I’ve been experiment with my new pressure cooker, this was my 3rd time to use it, I’m getting better at cooking in stages. The tip at the end about waiting to add the potatoes was very helpful.

Hey Melissa! Love hearing that! It’s been baby steps for me too. The more I use it – the more comfortable I get but it’s definitely a work in progress as I experiment with new recipes. Some work and some definitely do not. Learning as I go so you’re not alone! 🙂

Why oh WHY does it say to add the cheese? I’m *struggling* to remove it from the bottom of my pot… and none of it stayed on the potatoes. How was it supposed to turn out? I almost want to doc two stars because the struggle is real. But I won’t because it tasted great! Definitely room to add more bread/breadcrumbs after the bread. Delicious.

Hey Megan! So sorry about that! I have had a couple people have issues with the cheese sticking to their pot. I forget that some have nonstick pots and some don’t. It helps to add cooking spray for nonstick inserts. However, I will update the recipe to add the cheese at the end to avoid any issues altogether. Thanks so much for the feedback. I sure do appreciate and glad you enjoyed the taste!

Hey Kimberly, honestly, I am not exactly sure since I haven’t been able to test the recipe with it being doubled. I’d have to go check out the Instant Pot website to see if they have an answer. I’d hate to tell you the wrong time!

Actually, I just TRIED 38 minutes (I doubled the meatloaf part, but not the potatoes), and honestly, it probably would have been fine at 35-36 minutes. It wasn’t TOTALLY dry, but I think 2-3 minutes less would have been perfect!

I always double the meat and 35 minutes works perfectly. I also add another layer, tossing in fresh or frozen green beans on top of the potatoes. They end up very soft but I like green beans that way. I also recommend using very lean ground beef so you have fewer drippings in the aluminum foil. The only substitution I make is to use crushed Ritz crackers in lieu of the bread. My 3 teen boys all love this recipe and we make it over and over. My 13 year old just said tonight, “I don’t understand why meatloaf has such a bad rep. Ours is always delicious.” Thanks for such a great, easy recipe.

The meatloaf recipe I have been searching for! Fantastic and fast! Thank you SO much! This will be my go to meatloaf from now on. Hubby (who “hates” meatloaf) loved it! I even ordered a Fat Daddio rectangular loaf pan that fits my 6 quart IP so I can make it into a “real” loaf! Thanks so much for this recipe!!!

This was wonderful! I used my 7 inch Springform pan and it worked great. I sprinkled the cheese and some chives over the potatoes after I plated them. Loved the sauce on the meatloaf! Thanks so much for sharing!

This time I made it Italian style, with pizza sauce, mozzarella, parmesan in the middle. In the Springform pan. Added fresh basil, oregano and sauted onion and mushroom in the Mealworm and some on the middle.. Delicious!

Hi Shannon! Rice can be really weird in the pressure cooker if you don’t position it just right. It can burn while the meat is still cooking. If you are just doing the meatloaf, I would still I would still keep it at the same time. 🙂

Holy cow this was amazing. I’m not an Instant Pot fan because everything I make from a recipe is bland. This was incredible. For the glaze I used 2/3 BBQ sauce, 1/3 ketchup and it was perfect. I used Parmesan croutons for the breading. 🤤 Even my 5 year old devoured it!

Fantastic recipe. I tripled the meatloaf and cooked for 45 minutes in our 10qt. Love the glaze and well everything about this. My daughter and little grandson enjoyed it as much my wife and I. The great part is we now have lunch tomorrow also. Thank you for putting this out here for us. Can’t wait to try more you’ve contributed.